1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data processing for a mobile terminal and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for integrated processing of data in a mobile terminal, wherein all types of user data generated in the mobile terminal is classified based on dates, processed in an integrated manner, and displayed in various forms by the mobile terminal or a separate information processing appliance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in information and communication technologies have enabled popularization of various kinds of mobile terminals. Mobile phones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, Moving Picture Experts Group Level 3 (MP3) audio players, portable multimedia players, mobile broadcast receivers, portable navigation assistants, and electronic dictionaries are examples of modern mobile terminals. With the mobile convergence trend, an advanced mobile terminal tends to support plural functions that have been evolved from different kinds of mobile terminals. For example, in addition to conventional phone call processing and text message processing, an advanced mobile phone can support various functions related to photographing, video telephony, multimedia data communication, wireless Internet, short-range wireless communication, and mobile broadcast reception.
A mobile terminal can generate and store a large amount of data. For example, a mobile phone can store log data regarding sent and received calls and messages, user created data such as schedules and memos, and multimedia data such as images, audios and videos. Increases both in type and amount of data have necessitated effective means for classifying and displaying the data.
In conventional approaches to data processing for mobile terminals, data is processed separately according to types. For example, call logs are sorted in order of time among themselves without other types of data. In addition, call logs can be displayed only through related menus without display of other types of data. Conventional data processing approaches may be sufficient for a small amount of data with a small number of types. However, in the case of a large amount of data with a large number of types, such conventional data processing approaches may cause inconvenience to users and lower effectiveness of mobile terminals. Therefore, a need exists for an effective means to process a large amount of data generated by a mobile terminal in an integrated manner.